1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the camouflaging of hunting and military vehicles and more particularly, to removable camouflage which can be quickly and easily attached to and removed from a vehicle having steel body panels without damaging or altering the vehicle paint. In a first preferred embodiment the removable camouflage is characterized by a flexible, elastomeric magnetic panel or sheet of selected size and shape and having a selected camouflage pattern provided thereon for fitting directly on and removably magnetically adhering to the steel surfaces of the vehicle and camouflaging the vehicle. In a second preferred embodiment the removable camouflage includes multiple camouflage plates of selected size, shape and camouflage pattern for removable magnetic attachment to the steel surfaces of the vehicle and camouflaging the vehicle. Both the camouflage panel and the camouflage plates are typically constructed of a flexible elastomeric matrix having magnetic filings or other magnetic particles embedded therein or material provided with an induced magnetic charge or a static charge, for magnetic or static attachment to the steel vehicle surfaces. Furthermore, the selected camouflage pattern can be applied directly to the magnetic elastomeric surface by such techniques as silk screening, painting and other techniques well known to those skilled in the art. Alternatively, a vinyl sheet can be applied to the magnetic elastomeric material to define a laminated sheet and facilitate printing, silk screening or other application of the desired camouflage pattern. The camouflage pattern can be applied to the magnetic elastomeric itself or to the vinyl overlay in a continuous process by paint or silk screen rollers or a preprinted vinyl sheet can be laminated on the underlying magnetic vinyl or plastic base in a continuous process by a pressure roller or rollers, further according to the knowledge of those skilled in the art. In the case of the camouflage plates, a suitable stamping or cutting mechanism can be utilized to die cut the various plates from a continuous roll of magnetic elastomer, with or without the vinyl overlay, also according to techniques known to those skilled in the art.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of camouflaging techniques for camouflaging hunting and military vehicles are well known in the art. Typical of these techniques is painting the vehicle with an olive drab or combinations of such colors as olive drab, orange, brown, green, black and tan in any variation necessary to create the desired camouflage color combinations that will blend with the terrain where the hunting or military operation is taking place. This technique typically necessitates application of a paint directly to the vehicle surface, thereby overlaying the underlying primer or paint covering the vehicle. While such alteration of the surface characteristics of a military vehicle may be perfectly satisfactorily because the military vehicle is used for no other purpose than for military operations, the alternative is frequently unsatisfactory for the occasional hunter who also uses his pickup truck or other vehicle for activities other than hunting. Accordingly, the painting of a pickup truck or alternative vehicle for hunting purposes frequently means repainting the vehicle after the hunting season for ordinary street use until the next hunting season.
Various types of magnetic devices have been used on vehicles for various purposes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,176, dated Sep. 1, 1964, to J. E. Haslam, details a "Magnetic Car Door Protector" which includes a magnetic strip fitted with shock-resistant members for attachment to the door of an automobile to protect the door against damage from the opening doors of adjacent cars. U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,024, dated May 30, 1989, to Gary H. Hallay, details a "Decorative Article For A Magnetizable Surface". The decorative article is designed for releasable attachment to a magnetizable surface such as steel and includes a base of magnetized sheet material and a projection member attached to the base, which serves to hold an ornament on the base in an assembled state. The base is constructed of a resilient magnetic sheet and the projection member includes a connection member for attaching the projection member to the base in an integral, upstanding projection. A sleeve having a head is received on the upstanding projection and interposed in the head of the sleeve and the base is an ornament held in an assembled state by the interaction of the base, the head of the sleeve and the upstanding projection. A "Three-Color Infrared Camouflage System" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,101, dated Dec. 31, 1991, to Conway et al. The system includes layers of camouflage material having low, intermediate and high thermal emissivities in the infrared spectrum range and appearing black, green and brown in the visible spectrum range. The camouflage system may be used in the construction of decoys, as well as for camouflaging vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,877, dated Sep. 8, 1992, to Jeffrey S. Parks, details a "Photoreactive Camouflage". The camouflage is designed for application to the exterior of a military vehicle and includes a set of photoreactive lenses placed on the vehicle, the lenses having an irregular topography and a thin, antireflection film on the faces of the lens. The system reduces or eliminates contrast between illuminated and shadowed panels of the vehicle, so that the vehicle more thoroughly blends into the background against which the vehicle is viewed.
It is an object of this invention to provide removable magnetic camouflage for vehicles having steel body panels, which camouflage is characterized by a flexible magnetic base material having a suitable camouflage pattern provided thereon.
Another object of the invention is to provide a removable camouflage which includes at least one flexible camouflage panel or sheet having magnetic properties and imprinted with a selected camouflage pattern, for removable attachment to the steel body panels of a hunting or military vehicle.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide easily portionable and removable magnetic camouflage which includes multiple camouflage plates of selected size, shape and thickness and formed from a flexible, elastomeric magnetic material, for removable attachment to a vehicle having steel body panels and camouflaging the vehicle.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a removable camouflage that includes one or more shaped panel sheet or individual, irregularly-shaped camouflage plates of selected size and constructed of a flexible, elastomeric magnetic material having a camouflage pattern imprinted either directly on the magnetic material or on a vinyl film or sheet laminated to the magnetic material, to camouflage the vehicle.